Talking About the Present and Future in Amharic

Amharic Verbs

To use an Amharic verb, you need to find its stem. Then attach new prefixes and suffixes to it to reflect the person and the tense. To do so, follow these steps:

Steps

1. Start with the infinitive (or "to") form. 2. Remove the prefix me- (መ-), and suffix -t (-ት or -ቱ) if there is one. 3. Then, look for the root consonants that are left. Stem lengths can vary, but 2- or 3-consonant stems are most common.

Example:

Meblat

If the verb does not end with a -ት (-t) or -ቱ (-tu) in the infinitive, then only drop the me- and keep what is left.

Examples:

mehed and menager

If the stem contains consecutive consonants in the infinitive form (st, mt, bl, etc.), then you typically separate them with an "E" or another vowel in the conjugated form. Because English transliterations are not always precise, it's easier to tell this when reading the original Fidel script.

Examples:

meblat and memtat

Amharic Verbs

Present tense used for the future

The present tense in Amharic can be used to indicate future actions in certain contexts, much like in English when combined with a future time marker, such as ነገ (nege) “tomorrow,” በኋላ (behwalla) “later,” or በቀጣይ ሳምንት (beqetayi samint) “next week,”:

Examples:

Ehedalehu nege. (እሄዳለሁ ነገ።) – I (will) go tomorrow.
Eyebelalehu beqetayi samint. (እየበላለሁ በቀጣይ ሳምንት።) – I (will) eat next week.
Ewesedalehu behwala. (እወሰዳለሁ በኋላ።) – I (will) take it later.
Eyayalehu qenun nege. (እያያለሁ ቀኑን ነገ።) – I (will) see (it) the whole day tomorrow.

Present & Future Tenses Conjugation Table

Infinitive	To eat (Meblat)	To drink (Met’et’at)	To go (Mehed)	To come (Memt’at)	To see (Mayet)	To say (Menager)	To give (Mest’et)	To take (Mewsed)	To know (Mawek)	To work (Mesrat)
I	ebelalehu	et’et’alehu	ehedalehu	emet’alehu	eyayalehu	enageralehu	eset’alehu	ewesedalehu	ewek’alehu	eseralehu
You (m)	tibelaleh	tit’et’aleh	tihedaleh	timet’aleh	tiyayaleh	tinageraleh	tiset’aleh	tiwesedaleh	tiwek’aleh	tiseraleh
You (f)	tibelalesh	tit’et’alesh	tihedalesh	timet’alesh	tiyayalesh	tinageralesh	tiset’alesh	tiwesedalesh	tiwek’alesh	tiseralesh
You (formal)	tibelalehwot	tit’et’alehwot	tihedalehwot	timet’alehwot	tiyayalehwot	tinageralehwot	tiset’alehwot	tiwesedalehwot	tiwek’alehwot	tiseralehwot
He	yibelalew	yit’et’alew	yihedalew	yimet’alew	yiyayalew	yinageralew	yiset’alew	yiwesedalew	yiwek’alew	yiseralew
She	tibelalach	tit’et’alach	tihedalach	timet’alach	tiyayalach	tinageralach	tiset’alach	tiwesedalach	tiwek’alach	tiseralach
We	enbelalen	ent’et’alen	enhedalen	enmet’alen	enyayalen	ennageralen	enset’alen	enwesedalen	enwek’alen	enseralen
You all	tibelalachihu	tit’et’alachihu	tihedalachihu	timet’alachihu	tiyayalachihu	tinageralachihu	tiset’alachihu	tiwesedalachihu	tiwek’alachihu	tiseralachihu
They	yibelalachu	yit’et’alachu	yihedalachu	yimet’alachu	yiyayalachu	yinageralachu	yiset’alachu	yiwesedalachu	yiwek’alachu	yiseralachu

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Infinitive	To eat (መብላት)	To drink (መጠጣት)	To go (መሄድ)	To come (መምጣት)	To see (ማየት)	To say (መናገር)	To give (መስጠት)	To take (መውሰድ)	To know (ማወቅ)	To work (መስራት)
I	እበላለሁ	እጠጣለሁ	እሄዳለሁ	እመጣለሁ	እያያለሁ	እናገራለሁ	እሰጣለሁ	እወስዳለሁ	እወቃለሁ	እሰራለሁ
You (m)	ትበላለህ	ትጠጣለህ	ትሄዳለህ	ትመጣለህ	ትያያለህ	ትናገራለህ	ትሰጣለህ	ትወስዳለህ	ትወቃለህ	ትሰራለህ
You (f)	ትበላለሽ	ትጠጣለሽ	ትሄዳለሽ	ትመጣለሽ	ትያያለሽ	ትናገራለሽ	ትሰጣለሽ	ትወስዳለሽ	ትወቃለሽ	ትሰራለሽ
You (formal)	ትበላለዎት	ትጠጣለዎት	ትሄዳለዎት	ትመጣለዎት	ትያያለዎት	ትናገራለዎት	ትሰጣለዎት	ትወስዳለዎት	ትወቃለዎት	ትሰራለዎት
He	ይበላለው	ይጠጣለው	ይሄዳለው	ይመጣለው	ይያያለው	ይናገራለው	ይሰጣለው	ይወስዳለው	ይወቃለው	ይሰራለው
She	ትበላለች	ትጠጣለች	ትሄዳለች	ትመጣለች	ትያያለች	ትናገራለች	ትሰጣለች	ትወስዳለች	ትወቃለች	ትሰራለች
We	እንበላለን	እንጠጣለን	እንሄዳለን	እንመጣለን	እንያያለን	እንናገራለን	እንሰጣለን	እንወስዳለን	እንወቃለን	እንሰራለን
You all	ትበላላችሁ	ትጠጣላችሁ	ትሄዳላችሁ	ትመጣላችሁ	ትያያላችሁ	ትናገራላችሁ	ትሰጣላችሁ	ትወስዳላችሁ	ትወቃላችሁ	ትሰራላችሁ
They	ይበላላቸው	ይጠጣላቸው	ይሄዳላቸው	ይመጣላቸው	ይያያላቸው	ይናገራላቸው	ይሰጣላቸው	ይወስዳላቸው	ይወቃላቸው	ይሰራላቸው

Amharic Verbs

Steps

Example:

Examples:

Examples:

Present tense used for the future

Examples:

Present & Future Tenses Conjugation Table

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